German court rules utilities have right to compensation for nuclear exit

Published 4:46 AM ET Tue, 6 Dec 2016
Reuters

Germany's decision to accelerate the shutdown of nuclear plants following Japan's Fukushima disaster violated some property rights of utilities, the country's highest court said on Tuesday.

The constitutional court in Karlsruhe said that complaints by utilities that a 2011 decision made after Japan's Fukushima disaster to shut down all nuclear power plants by 2022 was in parts not compatible with the country's laws as it did not include compensation for lost sales.

The companies also needed to be compensated for some investments they made before the accelerated nuclear exit was decided.

E.ON , RWE and Vattenfall have sued the government over what they say amounted to expropriation.